jenkiadr

Great to know that you’re pleased with it and has gone down well with the family.

Hi All, I sold the car last month to a fellow Lexus owners club member. Thank you for your interest. Regards, Adrian

It’s the LEX4VL2. The guys at Grom UK were really helpful. I phoned them up to have a chat before purchasing and they insisted that I sent them a photo of the car and the head unit to make sure that I was buying the correct model. From memory, the facelift LS 430 takes a different unit to pre-facelift model.

Thank you!

The car is still available as I haven’t yet got round to advertising it on Auto Trader. I’m waiting for an updated V5 to come from the DVLA, as took off the private registration at the weekend. It’s now back on its original registration, which is LG55 NZO.

Yes it is. Am planning to advertise on Autotrader this weekend.

Photos now uploaded.

Good ones have been priced around that level for some time.

I can vouch for these guys both for repair and refurbishment. First used them about seven years ago and most recently last year. They are based in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, near Junction 4 of the M40. The owner, Howard, used to own and run an Aston Martin restoration business and takes pride in his work. They repair to Zürich insurance welding standards. https://alloyweldcraft.co.uk/

Our daughter turns 17 in a couple of months’ time. We’ve decided to buy a car for her to learn on and, as I don’t want to run three cars at the moment, have decided to sell my LS 430. I’ll be using the car that we buy too, as my wife has an auto only license. My LS430 was registered on 1st September 2005, is dark blue with a beige / cream leather interior and has done 116,000 miles. MOT until Feb 2024. It has a full service history with Lexus main dealers and independents. In my ownership we’ve used for servicing both Lexus Reading and a trusted local garage who looked after our German cars when we ran them (my wife now has a RX450h). I’ve bought all the parts from Lexus parts direct and have had the local garage fit them. Everything works as it should, including replacement of all six front parking sensors recently with genuine colour-coded Lexus parts (about £100 each). A couple of years ago I had a Grom audio V-line kit fitted to the car at a cost of approximately £800. This adds full wired and wireless Apple CarPlay/android auto and therefore makes the car a very practical daily driver (it runs off the second CD input without any impact on the main CD autochanger). It works through the OEM screen and simply uses a second port that was always there, so everything is hidden, and you just wouldn’t know it existed unless you press, the CD button twice in succession. The car has 4 Bridgestone weather control all season tyres, which transformed the grip and handling after putting them on. In my ownership, in addition to all the correct services at the right time (including aircon at Lexus Reading recently), the car has had a nearside front air shock absorber and wheel bearing, six new front parking sensors, replacement front grill (the original one I still have - it just looked very tatty), all 5 alloys were refurbished last year and are unmarked, brake pads, shim kits, and brake wear sensors have all been replaced with OEM parts (shim kit and sensors were not present when I bought the car). I’ve had the car since March 2019 and intended to keep it for another couple of years, but as our daughter is so keen to learn to drive, it has led to a change in plans. Photos will be available towards the end of June, once the car has been fully valeted. I haven’t decided on an asking price yet, but it will be somewhere in the range of £6000 – £7000. Private plate not included. If anyone is interested, please let me know.

I put a Grom Audio VL2 in my LS430 - it’s brilliant. Provides Apple CarPlay wired or wirelessly.

I’ve gone with a Grom Audio unit, which is designed to fit seamlessly with the OEM equipment using the second CD source slot available https://www.gromaudio.co.uk/ I now have Apple CarPlay through the system with full Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity (although I prefer using a lead as the sound quality is better). It also offers Android Auto. It’s like having a brand-new head unit. Cost was £500 plus another £300 for fitting. Looked into upgrading all of the speakers and amplification, but the tweeters are built into the dashboard and hence a lot of work to take all of that out – I was quoted about £3000 for a full system which doesn’t make sense on a car that’s not worth a lot more. I’m really impressed with the unit and even the in car hi-fi specialist I took it to was surprised at how easy it was to integrate and the functionality it provides. Hope of some use.

My car is exactly the same colour scheme as yours and really appreciate the advice and part numbers.

Thank you Len - I'll give it a go. Actually the middle one started playing up just after the car was washed! Adrian

Thank you Mark.

Thank you Phil - most helpful.

Just in case my original post was a unclear, I didn’t get the work done at Lexus Reading – the quote of £1800 was far beyond what I was prepared to pay. I’m looking for a solution that is as close to factory standard as possible but for a far cheaper price. Many thanks.

I need to refurbish the alloys on my LS 430. They were done previously in a rather bright and shiny silver that is definitely not factory standard. It also means there isn’t an original wheel to match to. Can anyone help?

Before I bought my LS 430, I had a BMW 330i coupe. Coming from an Audi A8 before that, the seats were like granite and the car audio system was horrific in terms of sound quality. It turns out that there are a number of in car audio specialists out there who specialise in replacing BMW OEM amplifiers and speakers. So I know exactly what you mean! On the positive side, the straight 6 3 litre engine was an utter delight.

I’ve had an intermittent problem with the front right parking sensor on my Lexus LS 430 for the past couple of years. In winter time it’s not a problem at all (it doesn’t happen) but as soon as the temperature gets above 13C, it comes on randomly at low speed. The same is now happening with one of the centre parking sensors. All of the parking sensors at the front have some paint peeling off. I took it to Lexus Reading a while ago and their solution was to replace all of the front sensors and charge me £1800 in the process! They said they couldn’t tell whether it was and electrical issue or as a result of the paint peeling on the sensors. i’ve had the car two years now and reckon I’ll keep it for at least the next four. Hence it makes sense to invest in getting this sorted, but without feeling I’m getting fleeced. Does anyone have any ideas how or who might be best placed to help? I’m good at sourcing parts, but rubbish at fitting them! Our local garage suggested taking it to a body shop as the sensors will need painting. There are also any number of in-car audio places who work with parking sensors, although I do want to keep Lexus OEM ones if at all possible. Any suggestions and advice gratefully received!

Yes it does. I'll get that checked out. Many thanks, Adrian

Thank you all for the advice and guidance - much appreciated. Adrian

Hi Steve, Yes it is all boxed up and ready to go. How do I get my contact details to you without posting on the forum? Is there a private message function? Regards, Adrian

Hi Steve, would you still like my old faulty front air shock? Please let me know as it's been a couple of months now and when the local household recycling site opens I'll take it up there if I don't hear from you. Many thanks, Adrian

I was checking over my 2005 LS430 today and, rather surprisingly, found quite a bit of water in the well for the spare wheel. Took out the boot liner and bungs in the floor of the well to let the water out. Have dried it out and put the liner back in. I'm a bit puzzled as to how water got in there. No obvious signs of water ingress on the fabric lining the boot. Has anyone experienced this before and/or got any ideas as to how it might have happened? Any suggestions much appreciated.